quinta-feira, 21 de março de 2019

McKenna Mendelson Mainline is a Canadian blues band that has released four albums. In the spring of 1969, the band was signed to Liberty Records (United Artists). In the summer of 1968, in May, Toronto, Ontario, Canada blues guitarist Mike McKenna (born April 15, 1946 in Toronto), formerly of Luke & The Apostles, placed an ad in The Toronto Star seeking musicians for a new project. In replying to the ad, acoustic blues artist Joe Mendelson (born July 30, 1944 in Toronto) suggested to McKenna that the idea of searching for blues musicians through the want ad milieu was an exercise in naïveté. Nevertheless, the two worked well creatively and the basis of McKenna Mendelson Mainline's dynasty was formed.

quarta-feira, 20 de março de 2019

Jason Ricci (born February 3, 1974) is an American harmonica player and singer. In addition to his solo albums, Ricci has appeared as a guest harmonica player on albums with Johnny Winter, Nick Curran, Ana Popovic, Walter Trout, Cedric Burnside, The Mannish Boys and Joe Louis Walker among others. Ricci was named "Best Harmonica Player" at the 2010 Blues Music Awards, and also performed on Grammy winning 2014 Johnny Winter album Step Back. In February 2015, Ricci played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Shaffer Band, Tom Morello and Zac Brown to induct The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Ricci also continues touring with his band Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind as well as with other bands such as: "Harmonicon" (Sugar Blue, Billy Branch, Ricci), "JJ Appleton and Jason Ricci" and "Mark Hummel's Blues Blow Off". In 2017, Jason Ricci and The Bad Kind signed a record deal with the Eller Soul label and released their new album Approved By Snakes released on June 16, 2017.

segunda-feira, 18 de março de 2019

Hurdy Gurdy emerged from the Danish group Peter Belli and the Boom Boom Brothers (aka The B.B. Brothers) in June 1967, when three members of the B.B. Brothers, guitarist Claus Bøhling, drummer Jens Otzen and British vocalist and bassist Mac MacLeod formed the power trio. Inspired by Cream but with more psychedelic leanings, they split from Peter Belli and MacLeod named the band 'Hurdy Gurdy'. They had considerable success in Scandinavia, breaking many attendance records for their live shows. The band moved to England in early 1968, after MacLeod had been deported from Denmark.

From Denmark, MacLeod wrote to Donovan's manager Ashley Kozak on 19 December 1967 to ask if he could help the band in any way. Donovan wrote his song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" for them as a gift for MacLeod. MacLeod came back to the U.K. in the new year to see Donovan and, a few weeks later, the rest of the band followed. After hearing Donovan's demo tape, the band set up outside his Little Berkhamsted cottage and played their version of the song. Donovan did not like the heavy take on the track they played as he wanted a softer, acoustic arrangement. Soon after, he released his own version of the song which became a hit, his version in the end had a similar arrangement to the Hurdy Gurdy version. Donovan told Keith Altham of the NME (and Hit Parader) in December 1968:

“Hurdy Gurdy Man" was originally written for a Danish group by that name (...) There is a friend of mine in the group – Mac MacLeod – whom I looked to in the early days to learn how to pick the guitar. I wrote the song especially for them but then we got into a disagreement over how it was to be produced. I wanted to do it one way and they another. So I said, 'Right then - I'll do it myself because I think it's good enough for a single.' So I did it. And it's out.”

While they were in the UK, they did some recordings produced by Chris White and Rod Argent of The Zombies. Two tracks by the MacLeod era of Hurdy Gurdy, "Tick Tock Man" and "Neo Camel", are on the Mac MacLeod anthology The Incredible Musical Odyssey of the Original Hurdy Gurdy Man and showcase the free-flowing power trio psychedelic rock sound that rivalled The Jimi Hendrix Experience in their live performances.

Otzen and Bøhling had to return to Denmark shortly after those recordings, as they were unable to secure work permits from the Musician's Union. A new bassist (Torben Forne) was recruited to replace MacLeod and, in early 1971, they released a self-titled album for CBS which has recently been reissued on CD. MacLeod briefly joined the post-Zombies group Argent.

In 1993, Bøhling re-formed the band and performed two concerts at the Cavern Club in Exeter.

Since the mid-1970s, the group was an acoustic trio consisting of Thomas Koppel, Annisette Koppel (then Hansen) and John Ravn as a core. From the beginning of the 1990s, the group returned to electric instrumentation. Thomas Koppel died on February 25, 2006.

In 1996 The Savage Rose received a Danish Music Award for the album Black Angel, which was recorded in the US.[4] The band's debut album, The Savage Rose, was chosen as part of the Danish Culture Canon in 2006.

On Feb. 10, 2017 it was announced on their Facebook page that The Savage Rose will be releasing a new studio album as they tour to celebrate their 50-year anniversary.

sábado, 16 de março de 2019

"One Bad Son" is a Canadian rock (hard rock, rock & roll) band from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, consisting of Shane Volk (vocals), Adam Hicks (guitar), Steve Adams (bass), and Kurt Dahl (drums). The band's self-titled third album was released by 604 Records on Sept. 25, 2012. The album was recorded in Vancouver and produced by Danny Craig, drummer for Canadian band Default. Frustrated with the lack of response from radio stations across Canada, the band decided to show up at various rock stations in Western Canada to play their song 'Scarecrows' in person. To the band's surprise, the tactic worked and ended up taking them from Vancouver to Ottawa, and resulted in a surprise hit with 'Scarecrows', which went to #5 across the country. The band returned home to Saskatoon to shoot the 'Scarecrows' video, which featured local fans and friends as extras.

The band embarked on a cross-country tour with Buckcherry in 2013, as well as dates with Monster Truck, Three Days Grace, and Crash Karma in support of the new album. The single 'It Ain't Right' was released in 2013, and went to #11 at Canadian radio. In October 2013, the band won a nationwide contest hosted by Sirius XM Radio to play the Grey Cup festivities in Regina, opening for fellow Saskatoon band The Sheepdogs. The single 'Retribution Blues' was released in 2013 and became the second top 10 single of the band's career, staying in the Canadian top 10 for 15 weeks. One Bad Son has been listed as one of the top 10 Canadian bands of 2012 and 2012.

sexta-feira, 15 de março de 2019

Silent Partner is from the city of Athens (Georgia), formed in the mid-70s. The group’s main composers were Kemp Jones, Don Porterfield and Ben Bickerstaff. Their debut album was recorded in 1978 and early 1979, in the 8-track Studio “Country Roads Studios” in Marion (North Carolina), the initial edition of 500 copies.

This album is very Genesis and Stackridge-like with the music-hall type numbers, folky material, silly lyrics, etc. However the last track is a power-blast of fusion that will sweep you away like a jet engine does an unfortunate pigeon. Having said that, it's quite hit and miss with a number of super-annoying songs, just as Stackridge used to do.

quinta-feira, 14 de março de 2019

Recorded at audioflare studios. Most of it live, some of it not, some recorded in San Diego. The drummer was always drunk, other than that everything was another day at the studio. My favorite people played on this album and only my favorite people. The madness was like a hammer and Chris never said a word. From the top of the train tower to Roach's basement, Pete put the stank on the chili pepper. There's beauty in the middle of everything.

quarta-feira, 13 de março de 2019

In 2013, San Francisco musician, Nancy Wright pulled down the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame’s Blues Saxophonist of the Year award. She’s been touring with Tommy Castro for the past couple of years, and has just wrapped up her latest album, Playdate!. For this project, she has enlisted a slew of top tier blues talent – Tommy Castro, Victor Wainwright, Elvin Bishop, and Joe Louis Walker to name a few. Her band consists of producer/guitarist Christopher “Kid” Anderson, with Chris Burns on keys, bassist Joe Kyle Jr., drummer J. Hansen, Tom Poole on trumpet, and Faris Jarrah on trombone, and percussionist Martin Windstad.

Guest vocalist Wee Willie Walker gives a standout performance and Wright gets down on sax, as the gang breaks out the sweet funk on the Willie Harper classic, “Why You Wanna Do It”. I fall hook, line and sinker for this track. It’s absolutely fabulous. I also have to crank up the volume when the soulful “Been Waiting That Long” kicks in. Sung by Frank Bey, who toured with the Otis Redding Review in the sixties, this killer song was written by Wright’s friend and mentor, the late, great Lonnie Mack. Kyle’s funky bassline grabs ahold and doesn’t let go on “Warranty”, a smooth bluesy track featuring the lovely and silky vocal talents of Terrie Odabi.

terça-feira, 12 de março de 2019

Margaret Singana, born Margaret M'cingana (1938 – 22 April 2000) was a South African musician. Margaret Nomvula M'cingana was born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, the daughter of Agnes M'cingana. In the 1950s, she moved from Queenstown to Johannesburg in the then Transvaal, where she found work as a domestic servant. While she was working as a domestic worker, Margaret Singana was discovered singing while cleaning. Her employers were so impressed that they recorded her voice and sent the tape to a record company. The producers of the musical Sponono, written by Alan Paton, gave her a part as a chorus singer in 1964. "Singana" was an adaptation of her surname "M'cingana", meant to be easier for other language speakers to pronounce.

In the 1970s Singana started performing with The Symbols. In 1972 she made "Good Feelings" with the band, the single reached No. 2 on the old LM Hit Parade. In 1973, Singana was cast as the lead singer in the musical, Ipi Tombi, and soon made herself famous with the song "Mama Tembu's Wedding". In 1977, Singana's song "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You" became a hit. She had a stroke in 1980 and suffered from bad health for many years but, in 1986, she made a comeback with the song "We Are Growing", which was the theme song from the television series, Shaka Zulu. Her 1984 album Ishipwo Sam was more traditional, with the band Bayete providing backup.

Singana received many awards, including the 1976/1977 critics award from the British magazine, Music Week, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. She was known as "Lady Africa" in Southern Africa.